The failure of the virgin lands program, the reluctance of Soviet bureaucrats to decentralize, and the embarrassment Soviets felt because of the Cuban missile crisis resulted in Khrushchev's forced retirement in 1964. He was replaced by Leonid I. Brezhnev, who took over as head of the Communist Party, and Aleksei N. Kosygin, who became head of the Soviet state. Nominally, the two shared power for ten years, but in reality Brezhnev was the Soviet Union's top leader.

Like Khrushchev, Brezhnev had been one of Stalin's stalwart lieutenants. Unlike Khrushchev, Brezhnev had continued to admire Stalin's achievements, even after Khrushchev de-emphasized the cult of personality. Upon coming to power, Brezhnev restored Stalin to a place of prominence in Soviet lore. More importantly, he began undoing Khrushchev's reforms, which he perceived were what had gotten Khrushchev removed from office.